Laura Turbay

Laura Turbay is a bilingual journalist (English and Spanish) covering immigration and emerging news in the Chicago community. She previously covered business at Crain’s Chicago Business, and immigration for PublicSource in Pittsburgh. She graduated from Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism in New York and specialized in business and economics reporting.

Dita De Leeuw, a community organizer and volunteer, greets friends at Yalda, a Persian festival celebrating the winter solstice, at the Feldman Recreation Center in Niles on Dec. 19, 2025. De Leeuw has helped Afghan immigrant and refugee families settle in Chicagoland for the past four years. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)

Afghans in Chicago are saddened after last month’s National Guard shooting, and now fear deportation

December 22, 2025 at 11:52 a.m.

The shooting has sent ripples of worry and anxiety across many of the roughly 2,300 Afghans who have resettled in Illinois since the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.

Woman killed and man injured after shooting and car crash in South Deering

December 21, 2025 at 3:11 p.m.

The woman was driving a dark blue Honda SUV in the 2200 block of East 103rd Street around 8:20 a.m. when another vehicle pulled up and someone inside it shot...

People walk across the DuSable Bridge on Michigan Avenue in the Loop during a cold weather advisory on Dec. 14, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

Chicago weather: After deep freeze, warmer temperatures — possibly until New Year’s — on the way

December 15, 2025 at 5:54 p.m.

Warmer than average temperatures are expected to sneak in this week and climb into the mid-40s by Thursday.

Amanda Capuano and her mother, Julie, daughter and wife of fallen firefighter Daniel V. Capuano, stand with members of the Chicago Fire Department at the site where Daniel Capuano died in South Chicago, during the bell-ringing ceremony marking the 10-year anniversary of his death on Dec. 14, 2025. (Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune)

10 years ago a Chicago firefighter died in the line of duty. His children have chosen careers following in his footsteps.

December 14, 2025 at 6:45 p.m.

It's been 10 years since the fire that claimed the life of Chicago firefighter Daniel Capuano. Today, his children are following in his footsteps as a nurse and firefighter.

Boy, 14, shot in Roseland: CPD

December 14, 2025 at 2:39 p.m.

A 14-year-old boy was shot in the foot early Sunday in the Roseland neighborhood, Chicago police reported.

Luis Jesus Acosta Gutierrez wraps himself in a blanket while barricading himself on a second-floor balcony of an apartment on Maple Lane on Dec. 6, 2025, in Elgin. The blanket was tossed up to him by a bystander when federal agents weren’t watching. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

‘The story of one more Venezuelan, one more Latino,’ says aunt of man arrested by ICE in Elgin standoff

December 11, 2025 at 5:00 a.m.

His aunt describes him as an “incredibly hardworking” man with a huge heart. The Department of Homeland Security says he’s a suspected member of a Venezuelan gang.

Luis Jesus Acosta Gutierrez sits on a second-floor balcony of an apartment on Maple Lane on Dec. 6, 2025, in Elgin. Gutierrez barricaded himself on the balcony for several hours after fleeing from federal agents. (Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune)

DHS claims man detained in prolonged immigration arrest in Elgin on Saturday is member of Tren de Aragua

December 9, 2025 at 6:32 p.m.

Federal authorities identified the man as Luis Jesus Acosta Gutierrez, of Venezuela, who DHS said had entered the country in April 2023.

Woman ejected from car and killed after overnight crash in Avondale

December 8, 2025 at 10:10 a.m.

A 31-year-old passenger was ejected from a car she was in on early Monday morning after it crashed into two vehicles.

CPD officer, 2 men shot in Morgan Park fight; shooting under investigation

December 8, 2025 at 12:34 p.m.

A Chicago police officer and two men were shot Sunday in the Morgan Park neighborhood after officers responded to a disturbance call.

Grant Inglis, 12, gets covered in snow while shaking off Christmas trees with Trent Modglin on Dec. 7, 2025, at Centennial Park in Park Ridge. The Wilderness Scouts and Princesses run the lot annually to sell trees for charity. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune)

Five inches of snow blankets Chicago area on Sunday with quickest start to winter since 1978, weather officials say

December 7, 2025 at 12:55 p.m.

The region was blanketed with 5 inches of snow in what a meteorologist at the National Weather Service called the “quickest start to winter” since 1978.

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